Bird Recipe: Dry Mix

This idea is a real time saver for me: I make a monthly “dry mix” for my parrots that allows me to serve variety with little time investment. I keep it in an airtight pet food container with a scoop inside to make it easy to serve my flock. 

I always have a “dry bowl” in the cages and on parrot play stands. Because it isn’t filled with moist foods, it can stay there all day with less fear of bacterial buildup. I also have a “wet bowl” at flock meals (at the table with us in the morning and evening).

Dry mix is what you make it. You can add your bird’s favorites to new items and see if there is interest as you come across them. Serving dry mix also reduces incidences of “food fear” (when a parrot is naturally suspicious of new food items and gets freaked out), because the new item is surrounded by the familiar mix.

My dry mix ingredients for my two Caiques:

1. Pellets: Zupreem Natural Conure, Hagen Tropican Parrot Sticks, Breeder’s Blend, Foundation Formula Spicer’s Blend, or Harrison’s Coarse. (Some of these brands are not my main organic brands, but I am OK with these brands in smaller quantities).

2. dried chilies (whole red hot ones)

3. dried unsulphured fruits (coconut, raisins, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, and papaya. )

4. dried seeds (pepitas, flax seed, buckwheat groats, quinoa)

5. whole grain unsweetened cereal

6. dried veggies and legumes (carrot, beets, peas, broccoli, soynuts, and bell pepper)

Ingredients are not in order of quantity or anything- when I find a deal on something great for the mix, I splurge on that. So sometimes the mix is veggie heavy, other times it is pellet heavy.

Now through 11/15,  enter code drymix to get free shipping on orders over $100!